Burial-casket.



PATENTED JUNE 27, 1905.

S. KELLY.

BURIAL GASKET.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 29, 1904.

NITED STATES Patented June 27, 1905.

SAMUEL KELLY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BURlAL-CASKET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 793,199, dated June 27, 1905.

Application filed August 29, 1904- Serial No. 222,661.

To a, whom/ it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL KELLY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Burial-Caskets; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to a novel construction in a burial-casket, the object being to provide a casket which is hermetically sealed when closed, very simple in construction, from which the cover is easily removed and replaced, and which is neater in appearance than the caskets at present in use; and it consists in the features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is a top plan view of a casket constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of same on the line 2 E2 of Fig. 1. Fig. is a vertical transverse section of same on the line 3 I) of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of the latch employed for locking the cover on the casket.

Caskets are generally constructed of wood,

which is covered with cloth, the cover or lid resting upon the upper edge of the body of the casket. The wood usually shrinks and warps, and consequently the lid does not rest on the body except at the ends, the result being that interstices of considerable width are left between the lid and the upper side edges of the casket proper, through which the corpse is frequently plainly visible and from which the disagreeable odors escape. The lids are usually held down by a plurality of fixtures; but by reason of the size and weight of the lid it requires two men to properly handle same. To overcome these objections and provide a casket which is at all times hermetically sealed and the lid of which may be easily removed and replaced by one person, my casket comprises the box portion A,

which is constructed in the ordinary manner except that the moldingstrip B passing around same adjacent the upper edge is lowered to provide a free portion C, over which the flange D of the lid E passes. The said lid E is constructed in substantially the usual manner except that the area of same is slightly increased to provide the said peripheral flange I), in which the said upper end of said box portion A is received. The joint thus formed is substantially gas-tight and is not affected by shrinkage or warping of the wood, and the said flange I) further serves to prevent the side walls of the box portion A from spreading. This construction is also very advantageous by reason of the fact that I am enabled to employ very simple locking means for holding the lid securely in place. The said locking means consist of suitable recesses F F in the upper end portion of one of the end walls of the box portion A, which receive pins or projections F F, mounted in the flange I), the said lid being moved longitudinally to cause said projections to enter said recesses, and when this has been effected the other end of the lid is dropped. At said other end is a spring-actuated latch Cr of wellknown construction, which is commonly used on caskets and is shown in detail in Fig. 4:. The said latch consists of the plate II, having two cars J, between which a bell-crank lever K is pivotally mounted, one arm of said lever extending outwardly and forming the operating-lever and the other arm extending downwardly and having a hook or projection at its end, which is adapted to enter a recess in the upper edge of the box portion A and engage the lower face of a plate L, disposed in the mouth of said recess, the said plate H being mounted on the lid inwardly of said flange I) and said lever-arm of the latch passing through a slot M in said flange and the adjacent portion of the lid. When said latch end of said lid is dropped, the latter is securely locked in position, as will be obvious.

My said device is exceedingly simple and eilicient.

I claim as my invention-- A casket comprising the box portion and gaging a plate mounted in the upper end of said box portion. 7

In testimony whereof I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

SAMUEL KELLY.

Witnesses:

RUDOLPH WM. Lorz, F. SCI-ILOTFELD. 

